Well, 4 years ago this week, the mother of my stepdaughters passed away. 
Her name was Brandy and she was 28 years old. She died 3 hours after giving birth to her 3rd child, a baby girl. This was major medical neglect on the hospital's part. Technically, I am married to the two older girls' father so Kelsey and Hailey started out as my stepdaughters. I loved them from the beginning or would never have married their father and we tried to get Brandy to let them move in with us to help her "get on her feet". She was pregnant with number 3 and the biological father of that baby walked out long before she gave birth. She had no job, we bought the house she lived in and the car she drove for her simply because she was raising the kids. I worked full time at another local hospital and pretty much spent my paychecks on Brandy and the girls and never once thought anything about it. She would never agree to let the girls live with us full time because she did not want me to take her place in her girls lives. I tried to explain to her that I had 2 biological children of my own and would never, ever try to take her place. A mother is special in a childs life. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, when the hospital called to tell us she had gone into cardiac arrest, my husband went straight to the hospital and stayed there for 3 days (she was not pronounced until 2 days after the birth because the hospital wanted to give her a fighting chance). I stayed home with the kids because I did not want anything to look out of the ordinary. Who knew? We knew on the first night she suffered a brain death.
So, here we are 4 years later, Kelsey is now 8 and Hailey is now 6. Oh yea, the beautiful baby girl that she left behind...Hubby and I brought her home to her sisters when she was 4 days old. Her name is Logan and she is our beautiful bonus baby. Last July the adoption was finalized. Hubby adopted Logan and I adopted all 3 girls. In the end it was kind of ironic. I did end up taking her place but I would really rather have her in the girls lives. I think about her a lot and I mourn with my girls. Sorry the post is so long, but I look at my girls and think what a sad start they had. I really do miss their mom. We will be celebrating Logan's 4th birthday on Sunday. I never knew such joy could come out of such tragedy. Happy birthday, Logan!
Her name was Brandy and she was 28 years old. She died 3 hours after giving birth to her 3rd child, a baby girl. This was major medical neglect on the hospital's part. Technically, I am married to the two older girls' father so Kelsey and Hailey started out as my stepdaughters. I loved them from the beginning or would never have married their father and we tried to get Brandy to let them move in with us to help her "get on her feet". She was pregnant with number 3 and the biological father of that baby walked out long before she gave birth. She had no job, we bought the house she lived in and the car she drove for her simply because she was raising the kids. I worked full time at another local hospital and pretty much spent my paychecks on Brandy and the girls and never once thought anything about it. She would never agree to let the girls live with us full time because she did not want me to take her place in her girls lives. I tried to explain to her that I had 2 biological children of my own and would never, ever try to take her place. A mother is special in a childs life. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, when the hospital called to tell us she had gone into cardiac arrest, my husband went straight to the hospital and stayed there for 3 days (she was not pronounced until 2 days after the birth because the hospital wanted to give her a fighting chance). I stayed home with the kids because I did not want anything to look out of the ordinary. Who knew? We knew on the first night she suffered a brain death.So, here we are 4 years later, Kelsey is now 8 and Hailey is now 6. Oh yea, the beautiful baby girl that she left behind...Hubby and I brought her home to her sisters when she was 4 days old. Her name is Logan and she is our beautiful bonus baby. Last July the adoption was finalized. Hubby adopted Logan and I adopted all 3 girls. In the end it was kind of ironic. I did end up taking her place but I would really rather have her in the girls lives. I think about her a lot and I mourn with my girls. Sorry the post is so long, but I look at my girls and think what a sad start they had. I really do miss their mom. We will be celebrating Logan's 4th birthday on Sunday. I never knew such joy could come out of such tragedy. Happy birthday, Logan!
